During the Great Depression and the wartime food rationing that followed, Americans tried to stretch their supply of meat with dishes like “liver loaf”. Savvy cooks economized by replacing scarce apples with cheaper, shelf-stable Ritz crackers in the national desert, apple pie.
The Menu
Liver Loaf
Baked Beans
Creamed Spinach
Steamed Brown Bread
“Mock Apple Pie” filled with Ritz Crackers
Liver Loaf
Liver loaf, also known as liver cheese, is thought to have originated in 1776 in Germany. Although it is sometimes referred to as liver cheese in English, it contains no cheese. Liver loaf is known as “leberkase” in German, and the literal translation into English is “liver cheese”! It is made by grinding up all of the ingredients (pork, bacon, corned beef, and onions) and then baking it in loaf form. Traditionally, liver loaf is served on a flour roll.
Want to make your own? We’ve got you covered.
Baked Beans
How Boston Became “Bean Town” – but we still don’t know the origins of “Boston Baked Beans” the candy!
And, of course, there’s everyone’s favorite playground song…“Beans, Beans, the Musical Fruit.”
Creamed Spinach
The “Only Creamed Spinach Recipe You’ll Ever Need”
Some spinach facts and history!
The Origin & History of Spinach – with a Jewish connection! “Mediterranean Jews, the Sephardim, were also fond of spinach and prepare dishes such asshpongous, a savory baked dish of sheep’s cheese and spinach that was customary as a dairy dish served on Shavuot, the holiday fifty days after Passover celebrating the Palestinian harvest and the anniversary of the giving of the Law.”
What is it about Popeye and Spinach, anyway? And a different take on the relationship. Skip to 3:50 for some real spinach action!
Brown Bread is named for its color, and refers to breads that contain whole grain flour, or dark ingredients like molasses. In New England, brown bread is commonly sold in a can!
Boston Brown Bread
One cup of sweet milk,
One cup of sour,
One cup of corn meal,
One cup of flour.
Teaspoon of soda,
Molasses one cup;
Steam for three hours,
Then eat it all up.
— Old Yankee Cookbook, published in “American Food: The Gastronomic Story” (1975) by Evan Jones
Mock Apple Pie: “It is certainly true that Nabisco popularized the notion of a mock apple pie. However, the company did not invent the recipe. Although Nabisco Ritz crackers were introduced during the Depression, in 1934, and became very popular, it wasn’t until the Second World War that the company began printing the Ritz mock apple pie recipe on the packages. Cookbooks had been printing mock apple pie recipes long before then.” – Did Nabisco Invent Mock Apple Pie?
A frontier recipe that got popular when it wasn’t necessary anymore.
Why do we think it tastes like apples?
Where did the phrase “As American as Apple Pie” even come from, anyway?
Why do we say “An Apple A Day” keeps the doctor away? And does it actually work?
Ritz Crackers Come to Baltimore! “Nabisco introduced Ritz crackers to the Philadelphia and Baltimore markets November 21, 1934.”
Fads of the 40s:
The Master Cleanse aka “The Lemonade Diet”: this liquid diet was developed by Stanley Burroughs in the 1940s but saw a brief rise in the 2000s!
A 1940s fad that most Jews weren’t taking part in? The rise of SPAM! http://www.eater.com/2014/7/9/6191681/a-brief-history-of-spam-an-american-meat-icon
Read More:
Dining Out in the 1940s: http://restaurant-ingthroughhistory.com/2009/06/12/taste-of-a-decade-1940s-restaurants/
The Rise of Tupperware:
- http://www.independent.co.uk/property/interiors/secret-history-of-tupperware-2100910.html
- http://www.pickles-and-spices.com/tupperware-history.html
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tupperware